The A-Team

“In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit…”

Tuesday nights at 8pm in the mid-80s… either you were watching The A-Team on NBC, or you didn’t have a TV. (Don’t even tell us you were watching ABC’s Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders, ’cause that just ain’t right.)

Yep, The A-Team was the place to be. Hannibal (the brains), Face (the con man), Murdock (the loony toon), and B.A. (the brawn) came into our living rooms every week, and their only mission was to kick some ass and blow some stuff up. (Yeah, sure there was the whole ‘clear their names’ thing… but really, was that part important? Uh, no.)

“These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground.”

Debuting in January of 1983 and lasting 4 seasons (yes, technically it was 5, but the fifth season was just so terrible, we’ve erased it from our memories), The A-Team reached its peak in 1984, finishing the TV season as the fourth most popular show.

Each week, Hannibal would gather the gang together and explain the plan, Face would usually have to swindle something vital to the mission, B.A. was there to beat up the bad guys (so long as it didn’t involve him flying: “I ain’t gettin’ on no plane!”), and then Murdock would start chattering away in some foreign language and chopper them all to safety.

“Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune.”

The A-Team was proudly one of television’s last, true, testosterone-driven shows. The female characters were such a remote afterthought that many of us can’t even remember seeing a pair a’ legs at all. And that’s alright by us… ’cause sometimes, it’s okay to just blow stuff up.

“If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire… The A-Team.”